Attempting to Catch Up!

So I have been extremely busy lately, and I just can't seem to find the time to blog between traveling, laying by the river, and what's that thing called? Oh yeah, homework. :) However, due to my recent grounding in Sevilla because of Mt. Eyjafjallajokull (or something like that) I seem to have more free time than I know what to do with! On the positive side, it is Feria de Abril this week which is a huge festival in Sevilla that consists of, according to all my professors and my family here, of drinking, drinking, drinking, some eating, more drinking, and a little flamenco dancing... sounds like my kind of festival. However, the last couple days have been rainy and gloomy, and that is making it hard for me to enjoy my time here, everything there is to do is essentially outside! Oh well, I'll start recounting weeks and trips now...

Jonathon, Sharon, and I headed out to Amsterdam on Thursday March 25th. Our flight our of Sevilla was delayed about 45 minutes and we only had an hour layover in Madrid! By the time we got off the plane in Madrid, our flight to Amsterdam should have been boarding, we sprinted through Madrid airport (the second time I've been able to partake in such fun at Madrid airport) and arrived at the gate to find that our plane to Amsterdam was delayed for another half an hour due to maintenance... at least we got out exercise in for the day. haha Anyways, we finally got to Amsterdam and I absolutely LOVED it. I thought the city was so pretty and I loved the canals! Our hostel was fine, aside from the putrid smell our bathroom let linger into our room. We went to the VanGogh Museum one day which was interesting, but 14 euro to get in!... Amsterdam was crazy expensive! We also went to Keukenhof an awesome tulip garden, unfortunately everything wasn't in bloom yet, but I still loved it there! We also took a boat tour through the city on the canals which was really informative. And of course, we went to the Heineken Brewery, which I thought was a lot of fun too. We obviously checked out the IAMsterdam sign as well... see pics of all that was mentioned below:

We then headed to Barcelona on the 28th for a couple days. We went to Montserrat our first full day. Monsterrat is located on a mountain and there is an ancient monastery there, and the Virgin Mary appeared that as well. It was gorgeous and I loved walking on the paths around the mountain! We also said a prayer and lit a candle for Popsie there which meant a lot to me.

We got home late that night and got some dinner and headed back to the hostel. The next day we explored the city and went to all of Gaudi's finest works: Parc Guell, Sagrada Familia, and the three houses he built throughout the city. I loved seeing his work it is soooo different and fun! That day was a lot of walking, but it was worth it to see everything I wanted to! We had back to Sevilla really early on the 31st and spent the day watching the Pasos from Semana Santa and just relaxing . The next day they departed for the US and I was extremely upset, but later that night I went to watch a Semana Santa Paso with some friends.

Semana Santa is actually Holy Week, and it is extremely important here. There are what are called 'pasos' and that is a procession through the streets with hundreds of people in an outfit, that oddly enough for Americans resembles the KKK outfits, and then there are men carrying the paso itself. The men walking in the terrifying outfits were walking to repent and some of them went as far as not wearing shoes! They did this is a promise to Jesus. The pasos last for HOURS and they walk through the ENTIRE city! I just cannot believe the hard work that goes in to them. Sometimes there are even small children walking in the processions! Also, the men who carry the pasos practice for weeks ahead of time by carrying planks with slabs of concrete on them! The pasos are so heavy and so intricate! Each procession has 2 pasos, the first is always of Jesus (representing the stations of the cross), and the following is always a Virgin, usually specific virgins to Sevilla. The pasos at night were much prettier to me, because all the candles were lit! It was extremely interesting, but frustrating at the same time because these pasos caused streets to be shut down and the crowds through the city were UNBELIEVABLE! I enjoyed watching the pasos, but I can't say I was mad when Semana Santa was over! Side note, not ALL of their outfits are all white, there are all different color combinations of hoods and robes, and each church has different combos. Check out some pictures:

SOOOO MANY PEOPLE!!!!!!!

Barefoot!

The following weekend I headed to Paris which was beautiful! I absolutely loved it there too! The first day we walked around the entire city! My feet were so sore and we saw the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and went inside the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa. It was quite the action packed day! The next morning we headed back to the Eiffel Tower so we could go up. We waited in a loooong line, but it was worth it! I just cannot believe I was actually in the Eiffel Tower! My life seems fake these days. Then we went back to Notre Dame and went in this time. It was gorgeous and so intricate! After that I headed to Musee d'Orsay, an old train station turned museum. They had pieces from Monet, Renoir, VanGogh, and many more! The VanGogh exhibit was unfortunately under construction. That night I went to the Eiffel Tower AGAIN, so I could see it all lit up, I think it is 400 times prettier at night! I LOVED looking at it, and I took waaaay too many pictures! haha. The next day we went to L'Orangerie to check out the circle rooms with Monet's paintings of the lily pads form sunrise to sunset. Monet is one of, if not my favorite artist so I LOVED looking at these. His paintings were remarkable. Then that afternoon we went on a walking tour of part of the city and saw VanGogh's house, Picasso's studio and where he would paint to receive free meals. It was really interesting, and ended with a free glass of wine! WOOHOO! Other than all of the main landmarks, what I liked best about Paris was the CREPES!!! haha they were DELICIOUS! :) We headed home on Sunday night and I jumped right into the week of classes.

Thursday rolled around and that's when I heard about the volcano. Now, I'm just stuck in Sevilla with rainy weather. It's supposed to stop raining soon, and we are potentially going to head to Costa del Sol for a couple days, assuming bus tickets aren't sold out. Travel is so chaotic out here it is unreal. I unfortunately already booked tickets for my two-week travels after my program ends, I'm hoping I'll still be able to go... the last time this volcano erupted was in the 1800s and it went off for an ENTIRE YEAR!!!!!! eek. Stay tuned!

BRIEF Update

Sorry I have been the biggest slacker with my blog lately, but it is just so hard to find time. Basically I am going to tell you what I have done and what I am doing and hopefully have time to write in more detail later.

The weekend after Portugal I went to Madrid, so a lot of art and most importantly for me, a Real Madrid vs. Sevilla fútbol game! Real Madrid won, which was fabulous, considering the fact that I was in Madrid. Also, Ronoldo scored a goal which was great to see and RM came back from being down 2-0 to win the game in the 93rd minute.

The weekend after Madrid I headed to Granada with my group. We saw the Alhambra which is huge and beautiful! We got to see a bit of the city and a group of my friends and I went out with Kaye and her friends...so fun!

That Thursday Jonathon and Sharon got here so I was beyond excited, but Friday morning they departed for Portugal and I for Morocco. It was way different than I expected and Tangier and Tetouan were not my favorite, but I loved Chefchaouen!!! The market place and tannery were absolutely disgusting, but it was a great experience.

Today I am off to Amsterdam with Jonathon and Sharon and then we are heading to Barcelona on Sunday. Sorry the recap of the last three locations I went to was horrible, but I will write in more detail when I get back next week for the end of Semana Santa!!!!

Portugal!

So it has been over a week since Portugal, but I loved it so much that I think I can manage to remember everything! Our means of transportation were not the best as far as the route goes, but we made it there and back and that is all that matters! Lisbon reminded me A LOT of San Francisco, maybe it had something to do with this:

We arrived early Friday morning and headed to our Hostel to store our bags. The hostel was AMAZING and I was far too spoiled. Unfortunately for me that was the first hostel I have ever stayed in, thus I have high hopes for all future hostels, and I will probably be disappointed more than once. The rooms were great, we had free towels and linens, lockers (which at this particular hostel I felt like I didn't even need!), free breakfast--including homemade pancakes!, homemade soup at night, the nicest staff ever, and the friendliest guests! If anyone ever travels to Portugal, let me know, I highly recommend this place. In fact, I am sending Jonathon and Sharon there the weekend I am in Morocco! Anyways, enough advertisement, back to my trip ...

That day we walked around a little and explore the town, then we broke off into two groups and the girls I was with and I happened to find a little theater that was playing The Wizard of Oz! We went to the box office and asked about prices and times and decided it was the best idea to just go then, so we did!

It was in Portuguese, but I know the story so that helped, and it was soooooo good! I loved it! That day it happened to be all little kids on field trips and us, it was so fun! After that we grabbed some lunch and headed back to the hostel. We ended up meeting some people that are studying in Sevilla as well and hung out with them for awhile. We went out that night and it was fun to see what the nightlife was like in Lisbon.

The next day we got up and headed to the aquarium with our new friends. Because I love animals, I had a fabulous time and the sea otters were my absolute favorite!!!

(**mom, that's what I want for Christmas :) haha) We grabbed some lunch after the aquarium and headed back to our hostel, but first stopped at the grocery store for some major necessities:

We played card games and hung out before hitting the streets of Lisbon for another night.

On Sunday we took a train to a town outside of Lisbon called Sintra. We intended on looking at some of the palaces and castles there and then going to another neighboring town to watch the sunset over the ocean. The second part didn't quite make the cut . . . We went to the first palace and it was so cool and beautiful, but by the time we made it to the castle it was pouring rain. We decided to catch a bus down hill/mountain/whatever you want to call it, and while the 8 of us waited at the bus stop it began to hail. What an experience. We finally got on a bus and reached the train station, but before we headed back to Lisbon we wanted lunch. The first place we could run into was a Pizza Hut, how adventurous of us. After our American cuisine we headed home and no one stalled in putting warm, dry clothes on. That night we took it easy and hung out around the hostel. I really like being able to hang out with my friends at night either before going out or just staying in all night. We don't really get that option in Sevilla because we all live with host families and we can't invite friends over.

Palace from afar & in the fog . . . I thought it looked awesome!:

On Monday, we had the best day ever weather wise, and our activities were a blast as well! We rented these little go-cart type cars for two hours and got to tour the city. It was neat because you could turn the radio on and it was connected to a GPS system and the car would tell you were to go, and would proceed to give you information about the most well-known parts of the city. I had a blast, except at one point when Mary and I nearly died. You may think that is an exaggeration, but honestly, we almost got hit and I don't think there would have been much recovery from that. Aside from that, it was one of the most fun things I have done so far!

After that, we walked up to St. George's castle and had an amazing view of the city! That was our last adventure of the weekend, unless you count the travel home. We got back in Sevilla at 6:30 AM Tuesday morning and proceeded to classes. Talk about a long day! That week I only had classes Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and then Thursday night I headed to Madrid! I will save that trip for my next post, which will probably be soon!

SO BUSY!

Sorry readers, but I hardly have time for homework these days, let alone a detailed blog of my life! I will write soon in more detail, but bottom line is: PORTUGAL WAS AMAZING! And it reminded me a lot of San Francisco, a lot of that had to do with what I thought was the Golden Gate Bridge, the cable cars, and the style of many neighborhoods (pictures to come, I promise!). I will write about each day in more detail, but I am running late for class right now, trying to stay in contact with friends and family, trying to book flights, and trying to pack for Madrid which is where I will be spending this lovely weekend! I am super excited, and so again, I will not be blogging this weekend, but hopefully early next week! Stay tuned, I have a lot of stories :)

Brief Update//Thursday Thirteen

This is going to be short, sweet, and to the point:

Nothing too exciting has been happening here, just a lot of class, homework, and trying to sit in as much sun as possible! :) We have been having beautiful weather the last few days, lots of sun and around 70 degrees!! I hope it keeps up, but it's a little rainy today. I leave for Portugal tonight and I won't be back until super early Tuesday morning, so don't expect any blogs until after that, and I am sure I will have a lot to discuss! I really want to check out the Aquarium there!

Now for a quick and pointless Thursday 13:

*Thirteen things I am looking forward to in March

1. Jonathon and Sharon visit!!!

2. A weekend in Madrid

3. A weekend in Granada

4. A weekend in Morocco

5. A week of traveling with Jonathon and Sharon (places to be announced)

6. A week with J & S in Sevilla

7. Getting my midterms over with

8. Warmer weather

9. Wearing sandals

10. Knowing more spanish?!?! . . . HOPING!

11. Seeing what Semana Santa is all about

12. Trying torrijas (it is a traditional food similar to french toast that is very popular during Semana Santa)

13. Experiencing new places and cultures!!! :)

adios por el fin de semana!

ALWAYS a lot to catch up on!

Another weekend has flown by! I'll do another breakdown for the simplicity of it:

Thursday: Class at 11, good thing too, because Wednesday night I stayed up until 3:30 video chatting with some people from Purdue and doing homework. I went home for lunch and met Mary an hour before class for cafe con leche that I knew I would need to stay awake! After class we walked around a little and due to ridiculous amount of rain, went into a little bar had some papas bravas (my absolute favorite tapa!) and tinto verano. After the rain settled a little we headed home to get ready for the night. We went out in Plaza Alfalfa, probably my favorite place to go on the weekends now, and just had a chill night. The bars were really packed due to the rain, because a lot of times people will be outside of the bars in the streets.

Friday: I slept in and after lunch I met up with some of the girls from the other side of the river because it was such a beautiful day. We sat by the river for a few minutes . . .

. . . and then headed to get some smoothies. After that we shopped around for costumes for the weekend. That night everyone was pretty tired and wanted to reserve their energy for Saturday so most of us stayed in, myself included. It was nice to get a good night sleep!

Saturday: It was a BEAUTIFUL day in Sevilla, so Mary, Delaine, and I decided to meet at 11 and go explore the city. We all had sweaters and jackets on, but not for long! I stayed in the sun as much as possible and even got a sunburn :) We went to Parque Maria Luisa and walked around before heading over to Plaza de Cuba. This plaza is beautiful, but unfortunately parts of it are under construction. It was still gorgeous and I enjoyed walking around.

Cool picture of the bridge in Plaza Espana, I like the reflection in the water!

Delaine and Me

Mary and Me

Finally, we found Plaza de America where you can feed the pigeons . . . they are supposed to sit on your arms and eat from your hands but for some reason they were shy today, I was upset about that to say the least!

Trying to get the pigeons to eat out of my hand

I still had a lot of fun exploring more of Sevilla and spending the entire day in the sun! I was craving a salad that day and of course diet coke (but settled with a coca light), so we sat outside by Plaza de America at a cute cafe.

mmmm . . . so refreshing!

Afterwards, I headed out to get some final things for my 80's costume and met Kirstin and Mary for Yogurtlandia . . . yum. I went home to get ready for the events of the evening!

I got dressed for Carnaval in Cadiz and headed to get some alcohol before boarding our bus at 8pm. It was quite embarrassing to walk through most of Sevilla in my 80's outfit, but oh well! We got to Cadiz and started drinking in the streets checking out everyone's costumes and then headed to the main plaza. Everyone was having a good time just hanging out, meeting new people, and taking pictures.

Much of Bus #1 when we were all still dry and happy!

Some of the girls!

After awhile a few of us really needed to use the restroom, did I mention the fact that all the bars block off their entries so you can still buy drinks from them, but aren't able to enter and use their facilities? This left us with a lot of alleyways, but luckily a group of us found some port-o-potties!

Find us a REAL bathroom, please!

Later, it started getting breezy and I insisted it was an ocean breeze, despite the fact that I knew it meant a storm was rolling in. Spain and it's crazy weather resulted in a group of us walking up and down streets looking for an open place to go sit inside, and after what seemed like forever, we settled on sitting inside a churros tent. Not the best location, but at least we weren't getting rained on anymore. Of course, I chose not to bring my umbrella because I didn't feel like holding it; although, I am not sure it would have been all that helpful, numerous umbrellas snapped in half while others were dropped and lost. Also, my fanny-pack (yes, I wore a fanny-pack! it went with my costume!!!) didn't have room for me to squeeze my raincoat inside, so I was soaking wet. The night turned from fun into miserable, leaving some of us to be jealous of the bums under the dry arches of doors in what looked like extremely dry, warm sleeping bags! You can guess when this next picture was taken:

Nap time in the Churros tent!

Luckily, due to the rain our bus left at 4:30 instead of 5:30 in the morning, but you can only imagine how humid and sticky and comfortable a coach bus full of 60 soaking wet 19-21 year olds can be. We gave in and took a taxi from where the bus dropped us off in Sevilla to our houses. I crawled into bed at 7:15 and slept for most of the day.

Sunday: I woke up around 3!! I felt bad, but I needed my sleep! I ate some lunch, did some homework, and then headed to Starbucks with Mary to do even more homework. I never really expected so much work, and it just stinks because my homework takes me so much longer due to everything being in spanish. I had some dinner, took a shower, and now I am going to finish up some work and probably watch some American TV :)

Thanks for reading! Sorry my posts have been so lengthy lately!

Now That I can Upload Pictures....

I wanted to share my 3 favorite pictures from Thursday night! hahaha . . .

This is my new best friend . . .
He is the 9 month old Portuguese Water Dog many of you already know about . . .

It's LOVE! Do you think the US will let me in with a puppy from Spain???

MUCH to say, lo siento

I haven't blogged in a couple days, so of course I have a lot to say. Let's go back to Sunday:

After lunch and some television watching Delaine and I headed out on a lovely afternoon walk. haha It was fun to people watch and check out some markets in Plaza Nueva. And as a bonus, we apparently found Spain's version of Dunkin' Donuts: Duffin Dagels (see pic below). We later ran into some of Delaine's friends at talked with them for a bit before heading home. That night I just stayed in and relaxed.

Monday: I had class at 11 and it was pouring rain, lucky me. After class, I tried shopping around for rain boots, I used to make fun of rain boots, but they are a necessity in Spain this month, but apparently not highly in-style. I could not find a pair of rain boots for the life of me, and the ones I could find were not quite what I had in mind . . . the first pair had a heel on them, rain boots WITH a heel, not ideal! The next pair had fur that folded over the top, being desperate for boots I decided to try them on and figured I could tuck the fur in, but luckily they were too small, because I couldn't imagine owning rain boots with fur on them. Finally I found a normal 'style' of boot, but the design on the other hand, not my thing. There were oranges all over them. I decided to ask the salesperson if they had them in another color and they did! GREY! Being the plain person I am, I was thrilled; however, they were a bit more expensive than I would have liked, but they have already been worth the money, and it has only been two days. After an hour and a half of shopping I headed home for lunch.

I had class again at 5, and before that I bought a sweatshirt that says Universidad de Sevilla on it. Boy, do I feel cool. haha Class was super boring, and I think I will rarely enjoy this class. Hopefully the art becomes more interesting in the near future. After class I headed to Flaherty's with Mary and Delaine to meet with Alfonso, our joint intercambio, if you will (which by the way, there is no phrase similar to 'if you will' in spanish as far as I know. We tried explaining the context of it to Alfonso for a good 5 minutes...which was really hard to do!) Then, it was home for the night.

Tuesday: Class at 9 and on the way it was kind of sunny and fairly warm and then out of NOWHERE it began pouring rain. They have the craziest weather here right now. As a matter of fact, when talking to Francisco at lunch about the weather he told me he likes to call February, 'Febrero Loco' (Crazy February) because of the weather. At least February is almost over so this unpredictable weather will hopefully be over! Then, I headed home to Skype with Jonboy and Sharon, and we were trying to plan our trips over Semana Santa!!!! Dublin and Amsterdam...this should be a great time! I think we have our flights all squared away, now we just have to book them! I had some lunch and again headed out to class at 5. (I am sure getting a routine here lately!) After class I think I just went home. I had some dinner and continued to Skype with Jonathon and Sharon again about our adventures in the near future (29 days until they get here . . . not that I'm counting or anything)! At dinner, Francisco was making fun of me and asked if I lost my arm and where my other arm was, because Spaniards eat with BOTH hands on the table, and I always have my left hand in my lap. Maria was reminding him it was a custom of Americans, and he told her he knows that he was just kidding, and told me that every exchange student they have had stay with them eats the same way. A few of us were planning on going out but due to the sudden torrential down pour, which wasn't much of a surprise to us anymore, we stayed in.

Wednesday: I went to my class at 9 and decided to hang around the CIEE building and do homework. Well, that fell through and I headed to get some Cafe con Leche with Rachel and Jasmine. We talked for awhile and headed back to CIEE to actually do some homework this time! The picture below is the inside of the CIEE building where I have my two spanish classes (I still need one of the University, and more of CIEE...it is crazy because it is open in the foyer, it rains into the building!)

I did my homework until Mary got done with her class and then we decided to get some ice cream with Jill when we stumbled across something EVEN BETTER....Yogurtlandia! Almost identical to Pinkberry! I was so pumped, especially because it is like 3 stores away from school! Not a good thing, but I will probably become a regular! We ate our ice cream in Plaza Alfalfa while the weather cooperated and headed home for lunch.

I just ate lunch and it was a pasta with a lot of tuna mixed in. I was disgusted. I tried to eat some, but it just wasn't happening because there was so much tuna....I had to tell them I don't like tuna and I felt so bad, because they asked if I liked it, because there was so much on my plate still haha. Luckily, Maria told me not to worry she doesn't like that pasta either and that's why she had this broccoli casserole thing and told me I could try that next time! I'm glad they weren't mad! I have class at 5 and a lot of homework to do for tomorrow, so that is what my night will be consumed with.

*One more thing about the weather (SORRY!): now it is pouring again, and it only drizzled for approximately 2 minutes earlier today and it was sunny. This drives me nuts because I never know if I should wear my rain boots and rain jacket, and I have to carry my umbrella with me everywhere! grrrr...

Saturday/Sunday

So yesterday my program took us to Cordoba for the day. We got to see the Cathedral there, a temple, a castle, and a lot more! Everything was pretty cool, and I cannot get over how much history is in one place here. My teacher from my culture and civilization class was my guide again, so that was great! After we toured everything we had free time so we walked around looking for somewhere to eat. Unfortunately we stumbled upon an American place and got pizza for lunch. It wasn't even very good haha. Then we walked and shopped around until we headed back home. It was quite an entertaining bus ride...our spanish bus driver provided us with music from is iPod including; several Michael Jackson songs, Gangsta's Paradise, and Earth Wind and Fire. Haha we also were lucky enough to have some of our group members singing along on microphone. Once home I shopped around awhile with no luck. I really need to purchase boots for the rain, and this week looks horrible as far as rainy days goes. I came home and got ready for the night.

I met Delaine and Mary at 11 and we met up with some of the spanish guys we met on Thursday and more of their friends. Also, our friends came over from across the river and we all hung out. It was a blast! Then some of us left to go to a discoteca with our new spanish friends, and the music selection there was also quite entertaining. Songs like the Rolling Stones' (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction, Smashmouth's Allstar, and The Beatles' It's been a Hard Days Night were all part of the night. haha The best part was listening to them sing along, I think it is so weird they know and listen to that music! As morning was approaching we headed home, I unlocked the door to my apartment, walked up the first 3 or 4 stairs and nearly peed in my pants. An older, poor, Spanish lady was sitting on the stairs directly outside my door. I said hola not knowing what else to do as I rapidly unlocked my door, she told me she was freezing and I just ran inside and nearly slammed the door. I was so afraid she was going to try and get in our apartment or something, but then I heard her talking again so I ran to the peephole. Another lady came in and brought her up to her apartment, so I was able to fall asleep worry-free.

I slept in today and woke up to a huge lunch that was delicious. Potatoes, chicken, bread, tomatoes with some dressing on them, and a glass of red wine. The red wine part, not so appealing after a night out drinking. haha Now I am going to get some homework done and just take it easy the rest of the day! :)

weekend fun

So Thursday night was a lot of fun! We drank at the river and met some new friends and decided to go to some bars with them closer by our house. They were really nice and the bar we went to was a blast. We got huge mojitos and made even more new friends at the bar, this time spanish ones!! WOOHOO, mission accomplished! haha However, when at the bar I went to the bathroom, came out, and EVERYONE in the entire bar was gone. I was so confused and scared I was locked in, luckily I was with a friend though, and the bartender was still there and unlocked the door for us to leave. Then we all just stood around outside the bar drinking and talking when I saw the CUTEST Portuguese water dog...he was only 9 months old, and of course I sat on the ground and played with him for like 10 minutes while everyone else made friends. I wanted to steal him, he was adorable!!!

After awhile we headed to some other places and finally at the end of the night we needed to get churros con chocolate! So Mary and Delaine were a couple steps ahead of me and I chose to run up and hook arms with them. Not such a good idea. Mary lost her balance, but at this point neither of us had much balance anyways, and as she fell she pulled me down with her. We tumbled into the middle of the street, and we feel the result today! Good thing we didn't get hit by a car while we were there! We got our churros and headed home. I crawled in to bed and slept like a baby! I slept in reallllly late, but got up in time for lunch...even though it is significantly later here.

I hung out today at home and took it easy then left to do some shopping, grab some cafe con leche, and see a movie since it was cold rainy. The shopping was a failure and I still can't find the perfect pair of boots I have been looking for since November. A group of us went to see Invictus at a theater that plays movies in their original format with spanish subtitles. I LOVED IT! I recommend it to all, and I thought it was great. The story was so cool and moving--even better because it is true. I came home watched some TV with Maria and Francisco and now I'm about to go to sleep. I go with my group to Cordoba tomorrow! I hope it's fun!!!

So earlier today I wrote a blog, decided it was extremely boring and deleted it. Then, I had lunch and realized I could write a novel solely about that, but let me go in chronological order and tell you about last night/this morning before my lunch novel.

Last night I went to the intercambio at Flaherty's with Mary and Delaine. For those of you wondering, intercambio allows us to meet Spaniards that are learning english, thus we can practice our spanish with them and they can practice their english with us to help improve our conversational skills. Well, only one spanish person, my two friends, and I showed up for it, but that's okay because we all talked and it was helpful! Other than the fact that when I am with other people I tend to sit back and listen rather than talk, because I get embarrassed, but I tried a little!! Then I came home chatted a little with mi madre and went to bed. This morning I had class at 11 with Oscar and it was fine, we did an activity that was pretty entertaining. Then I headed home for LUNCH...read on. haha

So I am starving by lunch time because I don't really like breakfast and lunch is late here, and as I approach the table I become quite discouraged. There is a huge bowl of paella with mass amounts of seafood, probably still swimming amongst my rice. EW. There were seashells, actual SHELLS that I used to pick up on the beach in Florida when I was little amongst my food as well. I forced down a forkful of rice and tried to swallow without tasting; fail. However, the rice wasn't that bad, it was just trying to avoid the seashells and tentacles and squid legs amongst it. Luckily, like with every meal I had a hunk of bread to eat. Also, Maria made what seemed like zucchini, and it was just deep fried, kind of like tempura at Tsukasa (yum). It was really good though, and I just told myself it was zucchini because I enjoyed it, and if I thought about it being anything else I wouldn't have been able to eat it. haha Anyways, I don't like paella, I never will, and I hope it is never served to me again...but I think it will be. Plus, when Maria asked if I liked it I had to say yes, I would feel so bad saying no! HOW RUDE!

Anyways, then I had class at 5 but a few of us went early to walk around and we got some cafe con leche and sat in the SUN :) it was sooooo warm and amazing. I can't wait for it to warm up around here all the time, it is beautiful and so fun to walk through the streets when it's warm out!!!! And I can't wait for the beaches! WOO! Class was with Angel and it was culture and civiliation....I LOVE my professor and the class is actually pretty interesting, especially for a 'history' class! We even took a mini field trip today to the center of town and saw three pillars still standing from a temple from when the Romans ruled in Spain! SO NEAT! On the way home from class we picked up some major necessities: Cruz Campo (the main beer here), Vino Tinto (red wine), and Fanta Limon (lemon fanta to mix with the red wine to create TINTO VERANO!...my fav!)...tonight we will be drinking 'down by the river' haha sounds classy! And then heading to some bars in hopes of making SPANISH AMIGOS!!!! Maybe tonight will be more successful! And I get to sleep in tomorrow :)

Now for a laugh for all you readers: On my way to class today I was ATTACKED by a grasshopper on some serious steroids. This bug was HUGE and DISGUSTING! I'm just walking along and all of a sudden this thing the size of my shoe...ok maybe a little smaller...flew up and stuck to my jeans. I legitimately screamed and tried hitting it off my leg without actually touching it (because that's gross) but that didn't work so I had to use my hand after like 10 seconds of flailing about and yelling 'get this thing off me' it finally flew away. As I looked up after my flare-up I noticed an American student and an older Spanish man walking towards me in laughter. I was so embarassed and repeated lo siento and i'm sorry both in english and spanish to the passerbys....so awkward, but it makes for a funny story!

Oh also, my mama got to talk to my senora on skype today! so that was kind of fun that they got to meet virtually!! :)

Back in Sevilla

So I got back to my house and no one was home, but it was fine because I just unpacked and got resettled and then took a nice siesta! Also, when I got home my clean laundry was all laid out on my bed so I put that away and half way through I found a pair of underwear that definitely does not belong to me....awkward! Later that day I had an art class and it was okay, we'll see how it goes, but I am excited because we take a few field trips to museums and gardens. After class a few of us got ice cream and dulces at my new favorite place, that I need to never go to again. haha The bakery items and ice cream are highly addictive and delicious! I went home, had dinner, and called it an early night due to my lack of sleep with flying. I got to sleep in until 10! WOOHOO! Oh, also I brought back some Fannie May candy and peanuts for Maria and Francisco and they LOVED them. Francisco joked that the present was only for him, and then last night after dinner he told Maria that I said I wanted candy, because he wanted her to bring them out so he could eat them. haha I'm glad I can understand some jokes in Spanish, it's hard to be funny or sarcastic in a language you don't know well.

Yesterday I had a grammar class at 11 that was fine and then I came home and had lunch. After lunch I was talking to my mama on skype and I was feeling quite discouraged about my Spanish speaking skills, and was missing home...I was just there, and it is so weird being back here now! Maria brought me cafe in my room so I decided I should go sit in the family room and talk to her and Francisco. Francisco left for a bike ride, but I had one of the longest conversations I ever had with Maria and I was glad I was practicing my spanish! I felt a little better after that, not thinking my spanish was better, but just glad I was practicing. At 4:15 I left with Delaine and we met up with Mary for our class at 5:00. It is a culture and civilization class and I reaaaally like my teacher he is really nice and easy to understand! He was also my guide on our trip to Italica. After class a group of us grabbed a cerveza and proceeded to that bakery I previously discussed for yet another ice cream. I am banning myself from that place! Everyone headed home but Mary, Delaine, and I made plans to meet up at 10. We really wanted to try to meet some Spanish friends and practice our Spanish and find cool bars around our area so we set off on our mission...and failed completely. At least we made the attempt though! And we did find some new bars we liked, but everything was pretty dead last night. I think it was just the area we went to though, because Calle Betis sounds like it always has a lot of people, but the majority of the people are American students; not the people we were looking to meet. After a few bars and a few delicious Tinto Veranos (red wine with lemonade...it's my new favorite!) we headed home.

I had class at 9 this morning with Luis, my teacher from my intensive language session, and I really like him too. He makes class interesting and uses examples we can relate with to help us understand how to use Spanish and I am comprehending things better now than I ever have before. I came home and was sitting in my room when a friend came over with her daughter and then Maria and Francisco's kids came over, etc. The friend speaks english and she is a professor and when she saw me on my computer she told me she would shut my door since I am studying and the kids were playing loudly. I told her it wasn't a problem but she insisted...little did she know I was blogging and chatting on facebook! So here I am blogging away and eating trail mix in my room like a little kid that is hiding candy under their bed or something. It's funny how you feel like you can't have certain things, and it is interesting because multiple other people in my program have had the same experiences with this. Some of my friends' stories are hilarious about hiding food they were eating in their room, or food they didn't want, and it seems that everyone has a similar story about hiding/stashing fruit.

I am just going to continue catching up on homework and e-mails in my (freezing) room until lunch, which will be with approximately 734 people. Maria told me her kids and grandkids and friends are all going to be here for almuerzo, we'll see how that goes. Then I have class at 5 (art) and I might go to an intercambio from 8-10 at Flaherty's--the Irish pub.

Thanks for reading!

Thoughts from the Plane

Well, I am on my fourth trans-Atlantic flight in two weeks as I write this post. Luckily, I have four seats to myself this time; however, I cannot fall asleep regardless of how comfortable I can get. Today, Nonie, my mom, and dad all brought me to the airport AND they all got passes to go to the gate with me! I didn’t even know that was possible anymore, but I was really happy about it…until my departure. It’s funny how it was harder to leave the second time, even though I know what to expect when I get there this time. Maybe it was the suspense that kept me going the first time, but now I know what is there and I know what I am going to miss, and how much I am going to miss everyone. I was clearly upset when I boarded the plane and this nice girl a row over came over and told me she felt awkward doing this, but asked me if I wanted a piece of candy or anything. It was really nice of her, I told her my situation and why I was upset, but declined her offer on candy. Also, is it weird that the first song that began playing on my iPod after hitting shuffle was ‘Home Again’ by Carole King? It was to me.

So, I get in to Sevilla Monday morning. Unfortunately I miss my first class, but I will be able to attend my afternoon class, so I will be sure to blog again after my first day back to Sevilla. Hopefully I can get into a routine quickly and skip the homesick part for the second time, but I don’t know how promising that will be after my previous experience. I just need to believe this is where I am supposed to be, and remember that it is what I chose to do, after all. Well, they finally dimmed the lights so perhaps I can actually fall asleep for a while and skip the whole jet-lag thing!

Today started out great, we went to Aracena saw a semi-cool mine and then an AMAZING cave. Then I found out Popsie passed away this morning; I wish I could have been there. I'm headed home tomorrow for the week, thus I won't be blogging. I guess life is a series of ups and downs.

Miss you Popsie, love you forever.

another day goes by...

So I figure I better write today's post now, because I intend on going out tonight, leaving me minimal time to blog. Also, I forgot to mention that my host family's son, his wife, and their daughter are in town from Malaga. They arrived last night and will be here until Sunday. They seem really nice, but they smoke :/ oh well, part of being in Spain. So last night upon their arrival, their daughter-in-law came over, two kids in tow, followed by her parents. Oh, and did I mention their nephew was over earlier? I was a bit overwhelmed, and I imagine this is how someone would feel coming to a May family party, especially if they hardly understand the language being spoken haha. Anyways, it is kind of comforting having all these people in and out and it does remind me of how Nonie and Popsie's house is. I swear I meet someone new and see another child, niece, nephew, grandchild, etc. everyday! So, that's kind of fun!

Today I had my first exam, I think it went well and after class I went with my friend Katie to sign up for a trip to Cadiz on February 20th. We are going for Carnavale (carnival) and everyone gets dressed up in costume; I highly recommend you check out some details about this event, I am beyond excited! Then I shopped around on my walk home, because conveniently all the best shopping is along the street I take back to my side of town. Luckily, I ran in to two other girls I know so I went around with them for awhile and bought a new pair of cute ankle boots! I headed back to my house for lunch and here I am blogging away now. Tonight, Kaye is in town so I look forward to meeting up with her! Then, it is off to Aracena bright and early tomorrow morning! I'll be sure to let you know how that is! I think we are going into a mine!!! That would be suuuper neat!

Adios!

Random Ramblings

So like my routine the past few days, I woke up had cafe con leche and headed to class. I struggled through the three hours today, and was excited to head home at 12. I have been wanting to go shopping so much lately, but after class I just want to get back...maybe tomorrow! I had some lunch and took advantage of siesta time. I woke up and studied for my exam tomorrow, had dinner, then met my friends to walk to the bar we were meeting at to meet our intercambios and get to know some spanish people. Too bad it wasn't what we had in mind. There was a live band, so you couldn't hear anything other than the spanish girl singing Bobby McGee (could that be any weirder!?!?), the lights were off so you couldn't see anything and they wanted us to play a 'get to know each other game' similar to what you would play on the first day of class. The game entailed finding people who had milked a cow, gone to a madonna concert, etc. and mark their name in the box. Needless to say we headed home kind of early. Plus, we all have tests tomorrow and I have the worst back pain ever, but that's an entire different subject.

On another note, I am feeling discouraged being in Spain right now, because I found out Popsie has pneumonia again and everyone was at the hospital together except for the girl who chose to flee the country for 4 months. Something like that would happen while I'm away. I miss home, but it's only been a week and I got some advice from a friend today who reminded me that this is what I chose for myself, so I should try to like it. However, she also said it took her close to a month to get comfortable which I find both good and bad. Good: I'm not the only one feeling like this. Bad: that leaves me with 3 more weeks to feel like this. Anyways, this too shall pass, and I am excited because Kaye is visiting this weekend and I get to go to Aracena on Saturday!

On a completely different topic now, I did call this RANDOM ramblings for a reason, but the food here. I have stopped informing you on everything I have been eating lately, but I feel like I need to keep you posted on this primarily because my meals have been sooo American-y lately. I had mashed potatoes and pork, equivalent to a pork chop one night, pasta with marinara/meat sauce, and what I feel was the Spanish equivalent to Ramen noodles. IT IS SO WEIRD! Anyways, that's all for now because I am going to do something sooo American: go watch episodes of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia that I downloaded from iTunes. haha

HASTA LUEGO!

Thursday Thirteen

I have been waiting so long to finally partake in Thursday 13 ever since I read my aunt's first one! Now that I read her TT for this week, I am not as excited...it was touching and mine is, well, read on:

13 Moments of 'Culture Shock': things I find odd and/or could do without

1. People can and do smoke everywhere here, my poor lungs :(

2. There are pig legs hanging in every restaurant, bar, butcher, house, etc. (HOOF AND ALL! EWWW!)

3. The fact that the houses are colder inside than it is outside. brrr

4. The dog poop in the middle of the sidewalks and streets that people don't feel the need to pick up

5. The lisp here EX: gracias pronounced grathia

6. Not being able to flush toilet paper . . . and sometimes not being able to even find toilet paper in the bathroom!

7. The fact that it's 'in-style' for girls to sag their pants . . . I don't even like when boys sag their pants!

8. Gypsies on the street scamming you for money

9. Not being able to express myself clearly and with meaning

10. NO diet coke! (they have coca-cola 'light' . . . it tastes different, not in a good way. haha)

11. The strange daily schedules, dinner at 10:30? That's even later than at home!!! ;)

12. Everyone dresses nice ALL THE TIME, except for me. Somedays yoga pants and a hoodie are all I can handle.

13. The fact that my loved ones are sooo far away . . . I knew this, but I obviously couldn't experience it before I left. Who would've thought an ocean could be so big??

But I suppose it is ALL part of the experience!!!

Busy Busy!

Today was crazzzy! I went to class at 9 sat there bored, but also learned a little, and then headed quickly home. I ate lunch and headed back out for a tour of the cathedral! IT WAS AMAZING! It is humongous, and I literally lost my breath when I walked in. The cathedral is full of history and beauty. Initially I thought I might not like these historical things, because I don't like history too much, but when I am there in person I am completely enthralled! I saw the tomb of Christopher Colombus, and his son . . . SO NEAT! And learned that someone stole part of a painting, but it's been replaced; you can see the seam where they tried to put it back together. Then we walked up 35 flights to the top of Giralda Tower: WHAT A VIEW! I took tons of pictures of the city from there, and obviously tons of the cathedral, I will try to upload some on here, but otherwise keep your eyes peeled for them on facebook!

After the tour I headed home, AGAIN! No one was home so I took a shower and started getting ready for the night and was just about to start my paper when I found out the tour of my area of town started at 7, not 9! I booked it out the door at 5 to 7 to find it was pouring rain, how nice. I grabbed my umbrella and took off for Plaza Nueva. After a miserable walk there we split into groups to tour the city...which was equally as miserable. The rain just wouldn't stop, but after our tour Delaine, Mary, and I headed into a cute little restaurant for tapas. We ate and talked for awhile until we finally decided to head home. The rain wasn't as bad at this point, thank goodness! I wrote my paper for class (tomorrow, oops!) and here I am blogging away, when in reality I should be sleeping. Oh well, that's what siestas are for! :)

More Routine to my Days

Today wasn't all that exciting, but maybe that is for the better. I went to class this morning and found out about a project due Thursday. This project entails me (with a partner, thank goodness) to approach strangers in Plaza Alfalfa and ask them what they think about the mayor and the changes in Sevilla. Can you saw AWKWARD?! Luckily I am finished with that now, but it took awhile for my partner, Matt and I to approach people. We felt like the biggest losers ever, especially with our American accents and reading directly out of our notebooks. That is where I spent my time after class, making a fool of myself. Then I headed home for lunch annnnd . . . I DIDN'T GET LOST ONE SINGLE TIME!!!!!!!!! And I was walking solo. I felt pretty good about myself as I strolled down Calle Alcantara!

Then I had some lunch, a stew basically and an orange for dessert. I can't tell you how much I love the fruit here! haha I did some homework and watched some Spanish TV then opted for a nap. Oops, I overslept! Good thing Francisco was at work and Maria went out for awhile. Then we had some dinner, I met another person, it is actually their son's mother-in-law, she lives directly above Maria and Francisco, good thing they get along!! That could be awkward for many people in the US. I caught up on my journal, blog, uploaded pictures, and took it easy. Now it's time to go to bed! Hopefully I will have some more entertaining stories for you readers soon! Hasta Luego.

No Comprendo!

On Monday I woke up for my first class, I walked with Delaine and Mary and we luckily didn’t get lost! :) Class was pretty good, but I feel like I am just relearning easy information and I just need to practice understanding and talking. I have a hard time putting my English thoughts into Spanish thoughts and don’t even get me started on my loser American accent. I have been quite discouraged lately about my Spanish I feel like I am never going to learn it and I HATE not being able to fully express myself, especially to my host family.

Anyways, after class a group of us headed to a little paper store to get some notebooks and then to Corte Ingles, which is like a Macy’s and Wal-Mart combined and on speed. It was crazy in there. I walked home alone that time and got a little lost but quickly found my way and felt pretty proud! At least if my Spanish isn’t improving my sense of direction is! When I got home I had lunch awaiting me; fried potatoes with a marinara-like sauce and pork, and again, bread. I took another siesta and when I awoke I met some of my senora’s friends. They were really nice, but I couldn’t understand them, Spanish women talk faster than you can imagine! Later their son came over with his wife and two kids; a young girl about 7 and a little boy not even 3 months old…SO CUTE! They stayed for dinner and the little girl was being so cute. She tried talking to me a lot but I hardly knew what she was saying, so I just smiled and nodded; she talks faster than Spanish women. Haha. My senora and her daughter-in-law continued to remind her to speak slower to me and she was so cute when she was trying to. Later she was reading a Spanish book to me, and it was obvious she is learning to read. I could read the Spanish with ease, but at least she can speak and understand it! I feel like I am at the level of a 2 year old. They stayed for dinner and I felt like the mute American, but I tried to understand what they were talking about and spoke minimally because I feel like I sound like an idiot when I do speak. Dinner was an egg and potato omelet, chicken, and fruit for dessert. Fruit is always for dessert, and I LOVE it! The fruit here is so delicious, and when that’s your only option for dessert it makes it amazing. Haha That night I chatted with my brother and mama, I was glad I got to but it did make me miss home, a lot! At least Jonathon and I got talk about our travel plans for when he gets here! WOO I CAN’T WAIT! Adios!

Pictures...

I uploaded some pictures to Facebook, for some reason I am having a hard time uploading them to my blog, but check them out on Facebook if you want to!

site Seeing and Being American

So Sunday I woke up and met Delaine, who lives in the same building complex as I do. We walked to the university to meet with our group to go to Italica. Italica is a place of ancient roman ruins, and it was amazing! I took so many pictures, and I will try to get them up soon, but it is hard enough trying to keep up with these day-to-day blogs! Anyways, there was an old amphitheater there that is thousands of years old and we got to go in and walk around. It was so weird to think that we were standing where people were mauled and killed by lions for the entertainment of others! We got to walk around inside the amphitheater where they kept the lions and prisoners as well, and it was after a day of rain, which just added to the effect. We continued walking around, because it used to be a small city, so there was a lot to see. We looked where some houses used to stand, and they were HUGE lots of land! It is unreal. The floors were all mosaic tiles laid by hand, and many of them were still in tact! (again I have to get those pictures up!!!) It is unbelievable that they still have these mosaic tile floors from centuries earlier, and let me tell you they are beautiful! What a tedious job to design and cut out pieces of stone and then put them down as a floor!

After our mini field trip I headed home for lunch; delicious soup with sausage, garbanzo beans, and veggies and of course a hunk of bread to go with it. They eat bread with almost every meal it seems. That night I went out with a couple of girls to a tex mex bar, the most American place ever to watch some playoff football games. Talk about being your typical Americano haha. On the way we ran into Tia and one of her friends and they were headed to the same place so we all walked together. The tex mex bar was too crowded so we went to an Irish pub right by there instead, I know, quite the improvement in experiencing the culture here haha. We enjoyed a delicious glass of sangria, watched some futbol Americano and met some other American students in a different CIEE program. After that, it was home for some rest for the start of my intensive language course!

On Saturday we woke up and checked out of the hotel locking all of our suitcases in one small room and went to breakfast in the hotel. Then it was time for our tour of Sevilla, which was modeled as a scavenger hunt. Unfortunately, as we reached the doors we were met with rain pouring down. Naturally I forgot my umbrella at home, and of course my amazing new rain jacket called H2N0 (creative) was packed at the bottom of my suitcase…locked in a room containing at least 50 more suitcases. I was not a happy camper on our 30 minute walk to the CIEE building. We got our directions and split into groups of three or four. Before we left I stopped in a little store to buy an umbrella, and don’t worry I didn’t use it the entire day; just my luck. The tour/scavenger hunt was going great until my group was approached by 3 women that began reading all our palms without time for us to react we just stood there dumbfounded. Then they tried to scam us out of money and me being the loser American that doesn’t know how to walk away from situations like this gave the lady 5 Euro. HOW EMBARASSING! She tried to scam me for more money, because she saw my 20 Euro in my wallet, but at least I didn’t suck enough to give her anymore. I was beyond mad at myself at this point, but we continued on our way and I enjoyed learning more about Sevilla.

After the tour we went back to the hotel where we awaited our new ‘families’ to come pick us up. I wasn’t nervous about moving in to someone’s home, until I sat there waiting and watching people shuffle in to the lobby. Francisco came to pick me up and I was even more nervous then, because I expected Maria to be there, in which I would have shown a little more ease. I was also concerned at first because every time he would say ‘let’s go’ (vamanos) he sounded hurried and I felt rushed, but it turns out I took it the wrong way. Francisco was really nice and he was patient with my poor Spanish. On the ride home we talked a little about weather and family and then turned into their parking garage. I felt so bad because he was helping me with my luggage and of course took the bigger suitcase, luckily they live on the first floor and there were only a few stairs from the parking garage to the courtyard area.

Maria, my senora, greeted me at the door, she was so nice, but talked too fast for me, I often have to ask her to repeat things. I get really embarrassed and flustered when I speak with them. They always tell me not to worry but it can be really frustrating when you know exactly what you want to say but don’t know how. As I proceeded further into the house I met their granddaughter. She is only 1 ½ and she is adorable. She continued to ask who the new girl was and they tried explaining to her. She was apparently not satisfied with their response and decided I was part of the family and continued to call me tia (aunt). I joked to Francisco and Maria (in broken Spanish, of course) that their granddaughter knew more Spanish than I do. They thought it was funny, but they probably agree. We got to know each other more over a lunch of meatballs with fried potatoes and a salad. It was muy delicioso! I was fairly comfortable here for it being only the first day, and Francisco helps because he will randomly sing songs and it reminds me of Popsie :) haha. Then we watched some TV and I took a much needed siesta . . . that is one Spanish custom I will be bringing home with me!

That night we went out as a group for tapas and then to a bar that offered 100s of different kinds of beers. A popular beer amongst some people in my group had a scratch and sniff label of weed; it was so weird, but highly (no pun intended) entertaining. It was great because the bar was crowded so we just moved it to the street, and that was okay, and legal! QUE BUENO! Later we went to a club, or discoteca but it was full of Americans. It was an interesting place but I left early because I couldn’t handle all the cigarette smoke it makes me super nauseous and I hate smelling like it after each day and night out. That’s an example of a Spanish custom that I will not mind leaving. EVERYONE smokes here, and they are allowed to smoke wherever they want. It stinks, literally!

I got home late that night because I got lost, but luckily I was with a girl from my group, Delaine, and even luckier she lives in the same building as me! However, neither of us could open the gate to get inside to the buildings for quite some time. We finally made it in and as I was attempting to unlock the front door to my house I accidentally rang the doorbell at approximately 2 in the morning. HOW EMBARASSING! But at least I found my house, one boy in my group couldn’t find where he lived so he just walked around literally ALL NIGHT! I would have been a mess and undoubtedly at the police station haha.

Sorry this post was so lengthy but a lot is going on! PS: I HAVE WIFI IN MY HOMESTAY!!!! That made me beyond happy! WOOHOO!

More Blabbing!

So of course I have a lot to say again! I’m a day behind on my blog so it is hard to write everything because I get excited about the new stuff of the day, but hopefully I catch up soon! Yesterday I woke up, took the fastest shower ever, and headed to breakfast in the hotel. I was beyond tired throughout the day which was filled with little seminars about all sorts of new things we will be experiencing. We had a break and went to get café con leche, it was the best one I have had yet! YUM! We continued with the meetings until lunch, on the way our guide got us lost, and it’s not like any of us could help. We had a delicious potato thing (haha sorry I don’t know the name) first followed by paella. For those of you familiar with the commercial about ‘pa-ella’, well I wish I never tried it. It was full of seafood: EW! There was a whole miniature octopus in it, which made me want to throw up the potato thing. The good news is I was able to get a diet coke :) We then had fried potato slices with pork: potatoes were delicious, pork just okay. Dessert followed and we all tried flan and a couple other dishes, nothing too spectacular. Then we headed back to the CIEE building for more meetings. However, something good came of our return, THEY FOUND MY SUITCASE!!! I was so relieved, but then I realized I had to wheel my suitcase from the CIEE building (why it was delivered there I will never know) all the way to the hotel on narrow, cobblestone sidewalks. I felt like the biggest nerd, but at least I had my things! After the meetings we had a little interview with our soon-to-be professors of the intensive language course. Luckily I went second, so I was able to return to the hotel for some much needed free time!

When I got to the hotel, my WiFi in my room was working and I got to chat with my parentals for awhile!!!! FINALLY! I then got dressed and met everyone in the hotel for dinner. After dinner we walked to a Flamenco show, which was really neat. I kind of felt like it was a mix between interpretive dance and tap dance. It was awesome watching them dance, and they were so fuerte (strong) in their movements! After the show we went back to the hotel and many people chose to go out, but I needed to stay in and get some sleep. Also, I talked to my mama and my aunt on Skype for quite sometime which made me very happy, but miss everyone at the same time. I finally went to bed and slept like a baby, until my alarm so rudely went off this morning. We are always so busy and it is hard to catch up on sleep. I feel like I have been here for at least a week, and it is only day 3! Crazy! Hasta Luego!